Trolley for electric railways



(No Model.) (1.. E. PRIEL.

TROLLEY FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

No. 414,552. Patented May 10, 1892.

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Mrs STATES PATENT FFicE.

CHARLES E. FRIEL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TROLLEY FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,552, dated May 10,1892.

Application filed March 19, 1892- To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. FRIEL, a citizen of Canada, residing atBoston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys for OverheadElectric Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in trolleys for overhead electricrailways; and it has for its object such a construction of theintermediatemechanism connecting thewheel with the arm as will insurethe wheel against leaving the conductor on rounding a curve or crampingin passing any irregularities in the wire, and which will insure apositive and at the same time a flexible contact with the 0011- ductor.

The invention consists, essentially, of an arm, which is of anyconstruction suitable in the premises, and of a grooved wheel swiveledto the upper end of the arm, and of the conducting-wire. The connectionbetween the grooved wheel and the arm consists of a disk secured to theupper end of the arm, on which a similar disk is pivoted, carrying theWheel, the two plates forming friction-plates, and of a springconnection between the upper disk and the arm, to normally hold thewheel in the same vertical plane as the arm, but allowing it to turn toone side or the other, the connection between the plates being such asto limit the movement of the upper relative to the lower, the springconnection consisting of a flat spring secured at one end to the arm aconsiderable distance below the wheel, and the other end having abearing adapted to register with a slotted arm of the upper plate.

The invention further consists inthe novel construction, combination,and arrangement of parts, such as will be hereinafter morefullydescribed, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of referencedesignate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a side elevation Serial No.425,597. (No model.)

of the upper end of a trolley-arm embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is aplan View taken in the direction of the arrow at in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is asimilar View taken in the direction of the arrow b. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal vertical section.

Referring to the drawings, A designatesa trolley-arm of any constructionsuitable 1n the premises, the main part of which is at an angle ofsubstantially forty-five degrees, and its upper end is somewhat moreinclined than the main portion. Attached to the upper end ofthe arm isthe plate 13, having'substantially the same inclination as the upperpart of the arm. This plate has projecting upwardly from near itsperiphery the annular flange b. O designates a similar plate, with itsannular flange 0, however, having a diameter such as will allow theplate to be fitted over the lower plate, the flange c encircl ng theflange h and resting upon the projectl ng edge of the plate B. The twoplates are pivoted together by the bolt D, and are so connected as toallow them to be rotated upon each other. To limit this rotation,aportion of the edge of the lower plate is cut away at d, and a portion eof the flange of the upper plate is extended to register with the slotformed in the edge of the lower plate, the length of this slot dlimiting the movement of the upper plate.

D designates the wheel j ournaled between the bifurcations of thestandard E, secured to. the upper face of the plate 0, and has itsperiphery grooved and adapted to ride on the wire conductor.

F designates a lug projecting from the arm, and it is slotted to aconsiderable depth. G designates a flat spring secured at its lower endbelow the lug F, and extends through the slot in the latter toward theupper end of the arm. The upper end of the spring has a bearing f, whichregisters with the slotted arm g, projecting from the lower side of theplate 0, the length of the arm and the slot being such as to give thenecessary play to the movement of the upper plate.

The operation of the device is as follows: Normally the wheel, withrelation to the supporting-arm, is in the position shown in Fig. 1,

and as a car approaches a curve, it, being in advance of thetrolley-wheel,will begin to turn before the wheel reaches the curve inthe 0011- d nctor,which would ordinarily be liable to give the wheel atendency to leave the conductor. In the present instance the wheel couldturn on the arm and follow the course of the wire Without being liableto become cramped and displaced. The friction-plates serve to hold thewheel rigidly in an upright position. The flat spring serves to turn thewheel to its normal position and to hold it in the same against anyslight impediment to turn it, at the same time to allow it to follow thewire in any deviation of its course or in turning a corner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patcut, is

1. In a trolley for overhead railways, the combination of the arm, theplate mounted on the upper end of the said arm, the plate pivoted to thefirst-mentioned plate, the lower of the said plates having a portion ofits periphery cut away and the upper plate having a projectionregistering with the slot formed in the edge of the lowerplate, thewheel mounted on the upper plate, and the spring connecting the upperplate with the arm, substantially as described.

2. In a trolley for overhead railways, the combination of the arm, theplate secured to the upper end of the said arm, the plate pivoted on thefirst-1nentioned plate, the Wheel mounted upon the upper plate, theslotted arm projecting from the upper plate, and the spring secured atone end to the arm, and having at its other end a bearing registeringwith the' slotted arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in 40 presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES E. FRIEL.

Witnesses:

OTTO L. F. LUTHIN, N. F. MosHER.

